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Attorney Admits Misappropriating $4.8 Million
Evie Pei Jeang Is on Inactive Status Pending Disbarment
By a MetNews Staff Writer
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EVIE PEI JEANG attorney |
An Alhambra attorney has been placed on inactive status based on her admitted misappropriation of nearly $4.8 million and is headed for disbarment.
Although the order concerning the status of Evie Pei Jeang was announced by the State Bar of California’s Office of Chief Trial Counsel on Tuesday, the order was made on June 21. On June 18, State Bar Court Judge Phong Wang recommended the disbarment of the lawyer based on her “knowingly and intentionally misappropriating $4,796,125.73 in Trust Funds that respondent was required to maintain on behalf of the parties in the dissolution proceeding.”
Jeang stipulated to the disbarment, which requires California Supreme Court action.
Chief Trial Counsel George Cardona commented:
“Jeang’s conduct caused significant harm not only to the parties, including her client, whose funds she misappropriated, but also to the court, which, along with the parties, had to expend significant resources to untangle the fraud perpetrated by Jeang through her disregard of court orders and her misrepresentations to the parties and the court.
“Every attorney has a duty to maintain client funds and ensure their prompt disbursement to their proper recipients. When an attorney breaches that duty, and compounds that breach by misguided attempts to conceal it through fabrications and false statements, disbarment is clearly warranted.”
In March 2022, Jeang released nearly $2 million of the withheld funds to the new attorney for her former clients. Wang recommended that restitution be ordered “in the amount of $2,496,296.22, plus 10 percent interest per year from December 26, 2023.”
Jeang was admitted to practice in 2002. Her law degree is from Southwestern.
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